Know Your Enemy
by Ceilo
Summary: Deception. When Yugi and the gang find themselves caught in a tragic repeat of history, can they bring themselves to look past the façade that is concealing the truth before it is too late, and they lose one of their closest friends for good?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

His eyes stayed wide and staring the spectacle in front of his eyes and Yami's jaw had already hit the floor when Yugi pulled the right trigger and made the last shot of the game.

"Aibou...that was incredible. You didn't even use a shield to defeat that grinder at the end..." he shook his head with an impressed smile.

Yugi smirked a little and put down the controller. "Ah, it would have just slowed me down." The shorter sat cross-legged on the couch, eyes glinting at his victory in his game.

The weekend, like most students, was their favourite time, for the same reasons even if the other didn't know it. The pair would hang out, duel, play games, take trips into the middle of Domino, and generally enjoy the other's company.

This weekend saw them without the companions they would normally have, with Jou working, Honda visiting a friend and Anzu currently taking her dance exam. All four had assured her that the girl would pass the exam with flying colours. So the two were engrossed in a little XBox gaming. "Hey I'm gonna get a soda. You want something, Hikari?"

"Um, I'll have a scotch on the rocks with a twist, and a couple of hundred dollars wouldn't go amiss either," he turned his head and gave a cheeky grin.

"So, you'll have a soda as well?"

"Yup."

---

Something was travelling on the wind. It flew across Domino City, undetected by anyone, even the item bearers of the city. It was getting closer and closer to it's destination as it swooped down between two buildings and into an alleyway. Just up ahead was a tall girl with short brown hair and blue eyes. Satisfaction filled the creature's mind.

Perfect.

Anzu had just finished her dancing exam, and was heading to the Game Shop. Yugi had demanded that she come after her exam and tell them all about it. It had gone well, only a couple of mistakes in her routine. Her dream was just a little closer. Anzu shivered. It suddenly felt very chilly. She paused for a moment, glancing around the alleyway she was in. Something about it was giving her the creeps.

She started to walk again, but eventually broke out into a run as she felt eyes on her back. The alleyway seemed to be stretching on forever- had it really been this long when she had first walked into it? It felt like she was being closed in on by some unknown forces, and it was scaring her to death. She turned to look behind her-and screamed.

Across Domino city, cries went up as the millennium eye blazed on the foreheads of eleven people, their minds suddenly flooded with a sense of foreboding. Something had happened.

---

They could all see the line they had to cross in the distance, calling to them to make it as fast as they could.

Kaiba lined up in the second lane, only two spaces away from the female record holder of the school. Well, he was the carrier of the fastest male record...

Mattie tilted her head and gave a wide smirk. "Best of luck Kaiba." Her voice oozed confidence and he gave a grin that reeked of something evil.

"Wish yourself luck, Cassidy, you'll need it a hell of a lot more than I do."

Both tilted their heads back to look at the line that was their target, the adrenaline urging them to jolt forward. Their teacher held the starting gun in the air and after counting down from three, let it off.

11 seconds...11 seconds... Kaiba's legs pounded on the track below him and he didn't even allow himself to glance to see where Matilda was, though through the pulse that was overwhelming his hearing he could faintly pick up the sound of her next to him. He couldn't allow himself to even waver for a second.

The last step took him over the white line and a cheer went up from the boys, while the girls stuck their tongues out and shouted at their immaturity. He looked at the time on the stopwatch that his gym teacher had been holding and smirked at the time it displayed. 10.41 seconds. He still had the boy's record.

Mattie took her own stopwatch and looked at her time, a frown appearing on her features. She'd broken the female record again, but not by as much as she had hoped... "Damn..."

Her time displayed 11.2 seconds, her original being 13.22, "I was hoping to get it down to below 11."

"What, trying to best me again, Cassidy?" she glanced up at her rival and the grin returned to her features.

"Everyone knows that if I was a guy I'd kick your ass," her voice, with its foreign undertone, once again took on that confident vibe, and she punched him in the arm lightly before returning to the girls.

Matilda Cassidy, commonly referred to by peers as Mattie, was one of the few people Kaiba seemed to show any level of respect for outside of a duelling arena. She had his air of self assurance, and was typically known through the class as the most competitive girl in the year. Her persistence to be the best was something both admirable and off-putting.

---

Mizuko was stood just outside the classroom of her new school, one hand on her hip, and a frown marring her face. She hated starting new schools, especially during the introduction stage where everyone tried to be all nice to her. It was much easier when they realised that she preferred to be left on her own. The homeroom teacher finally opened the door, leading Mizuko into the classroom. Her frown deepened a little bit as she felt everyone's eyes on her, but she kept her chin up, looking around the classroom at the people she was now going to be spending most of her time at school with.

The one that immediately caught her eyes was a small boy with large star shaped hair in three colours. How on earth did he get it like that? She wondered. Next to him was a blonde boy who was whispering to a brown haired boy whilst staring at her.

There was another boy who also stood out, but this one seemed to have gone the opposite way to the multi-coloured haired boy, with long white hair and soft brown eyes. He looked at her in curiosity, but ducked his head down when he realised she was looking at him.

Behind them was a brown haired boy reading a book, he seemed to be the only one who hadn't looked up at her arrival. Interesting.

And then Mizuko spotted her. The one girl who she had hoped never to lay eyes on again.

'Oh fan-fucking-tastic…'

---

Mattie froze as her eyes met the blue-haired girl in front of her, her eyes narrowing as the girl's eyes met hers and did the same. She never thought she'd see her again.

Jou nudged the back of Yugi's chair with his foot, and leaned over the desk to whisper in his ear, "Yug', I think that the apocalypse is gonna hit. Mattie looks like she's gonna go in for a kill."

Yugi looked over, and sensed Yami become more alert within his soul room. He was right; Mattie's eyes had taken on a piercing edge, almost freezing over.

The teacher clapped and waved Mizuko to the empty seat, where she sat down, still glaring daggers in their classmate's direction.

Near the back of the room, Kaiba picked up on several whispers from the sides of "that was tense," and "I thought she was gonna kill her..." and silently shook his head. If that new girl wanted to pick a fight, in choosing Mattie she'd probably have signed her own death warrant. He knew that she could be a bitch, and she had a strong right hook.

After seeing the impending confrontation between the two girls, the class had become fairly quiet, and were just waiting (and almost hoping) for a fight to break out. It would have certainly made the lesson more interesting...

By the end of the class, Mattie had finally stopped burning mental holes into the new girl, and when the bell went and they were dismissed from the room, she stopped at her locker and chucked her books inside, then leaned against the wall waiting for her friends. Her eyes drifted over to where Kaiba was putting his own stuff in his locker, and he smirked in her direction in a way that said, "You and me. Lunch. Track. Rematch."

That was their thing. Their times were so close, and she was constantly vying to beat him, even if only by a few milliseconds. Just to be faster than him would make her happy, because then she could brag to him constantly that she was better than him at something.

She grinned back and flipped her middle finger up at him.

"Matilda Cassidy. I will not see you, nor any other student make such a vulgar gesture!"

'Great. The Old Bat is on the warpath again.' Mattie momentarily rolled her eyes and apologized to Miss Kamikawa, or The Old Bat, and disappeared down the corridor to find her friends, who'd obviously forgotten to meet at her locker.

---

Mizuko had dashed out of the classroom as quickly as she could, unable to stand being in the same room as _her. _ Mattie. Did someone up there hate her? Mizuko wondered, glaring at the sky. Probably.

She was just wandering aimlessly around corridors, having gotten herself lost. She wanted to get outside, but no matter which way she turned she was just faced with more of the same bland corridors as before.

"Dammit!" she banged her fist into an unfortunate nearby locker. A laugh echoed from somewhere down the corridor and Mizuko growled. Oh she just didn't need this…

"Hey, Mizuko, fancy seeing you here! I had no idea you were transferring to this school," it was Mattie, Yugi and their friends. Mattie had a glaring look in her eyes, but the others seemed unsure of why they were there. Mizuko shot them a glare, and turned to walk away, not even bothering to answer Mattie's question.

"You can't avoid me forever," Mattie called, her voice echoing a little in the corridor. When Mizuko kept walking away, her temper flared and she marched forward and flicked the back of her head with her slender fingers.

Mizuko stopped dead as she felt the sharp jab, and whipped around, her hair swiping her nemesis in the face. "What do you want, Matilda?"

"Why the hell are you here?" The question was fierce and Mattie's eyes held nothing but contempt for the girl in front of her.

"I transferred here, bitch. Although if I'd known you would be here I'd have gone somewhere else," Mizuko snapped, a slight smirk adorning her face.

A reverberating sound of skin hitting skin sounded through the corridor and Mizuko staggered to the side as Mattie's hand hit her left cheek, leaving a stinging red handprint on her face. It didn't take her long to recover though, and Mattie flew backwards onto the floor of the hallway as Mizuko's fist knocked into her jaw. She landed on her back, her pleated school skirt riding up to reveal her legs, toned from her athletic activity over the years.

Mattie rolled back up onto her feet with a slight jump and steadied herself, her look now so intense that Mizuko would have been six feet under if her glare had the ability to kill.

Yugi bit his lip and Anzu glanced down to him, her eyebrows furrowed a little in worry, while Jou and Honda had dopey grins on their face and were chanting 'Cat Fight!' to provoke the pair to attack each other more.

Just as Mattie was about to fly at her rival and enemy again, she was yanked back by a strong pair of arms and a familiar voice filled her ears. "Cut it out, Cassidy," Kaiba's voice dropped so Mizuko couldn't hear, "She's not worth the trouble."

She struggled out of Kaiba's tight grip and glared at the girl. "This isn't over," she hissed, her voice burning with hatred for her former classmate.

"Oh it is, because obviously your boyfriend over there won't let you get into trouble," Mizuko flipped up her middle finger and smirked, then charged past the gang and around the corner.

Mattie seethed and held her sore cheek. Damn the little bitch could pack a punch... A hand pressed down lightly and she flinched away at the pain that shot through her jaw.

Kaiba sighed, his expression only showing a hint of concern for his rival and companion. "Come on, I'll take you to the nurse's office," he mumbled, pressing her in the right direction. Reluctantly she turned and went with him, leaving the gang staring after them.

---

~*Ancient Egypt*~

Nila was stood in front of the Pharaoh and his sacred court. Her breathing was shallow and her heart felt like it was about to jump out of her chest. This was it, if they accepted her she would finally be accepted into the palace to train with her magic! She would be able to become an elite spellcaster. She kept her head down low, and tried her hardest not to fiddle with the hem of her dress.

"She doesn't look like much," came one voice, and Nila bristled slightly at the arrogant tone.

"That may be true, but I do sense a great deal of magical energy from her, centred on water," came another voice, and Nila's heart lifted. She recognised this voice-it belonged to the man who would become her master should she be accepted. High Priest Mahado.

"My Pharaoh, what do you think?" Mahado continued, and Nila dared to peek upwards at the seven people before her. None of them seemed to be smiling, but only one seemed to actually be scowling at her-a man in a blue hat holding some kind of golden rod with the millennium eye on it. Moving her eyes onto Mahado, she saw his attention was directed at the man, or rather boy, sitting on the throne. Her Pharaoh's face was contemplating, as her gazed at her studiously, as if to judge her.

"Very well," he announced finally. "She shall be accepted as your new apprentice Mahado. I'll ask Mana to show her the ropes around the palace." Nila's face broke out into a huge grin and it was all she could do not to start jumping up and down. She had been accepted! She bowed down as low as she could without toppling over, and was finally able to raise her head just as Mahado came to lead her away to her first lesson, and to meet her fellow apprentice.

---

Nila was looking around helplessly as she wandered down yet another corridor of the palace. She was totally lost! Her first lesson had been wonderful, even if she was able to do very little at this stage. She had only been working on gathering her magic together into a ball in order to focus it-Nila loved the way it looked, all blue and shimmery like waves. The other girl there, Mana, seemed to have been struggling too, even though she had been an apprentice for so much longer than Nila.

"Ahh! This is so frustrating!" Nila suddenly yelled, throwing her arms out to the sides.

"Are you lost?" a voice came from behind her. Nila turned to see a girl about her age with short black hair and the usual dark Egyptian skin. She was dressed plainly, a servant or slave Nila assumed. "Didn't you hear me? I asked if you were lost," the girl repeated, placing her hands on her hips. Nila smiled in relief.

"Yes, I am. I'm Priest Mahado's new apprentice Nila. And you are…?"

"Nerifa. I'm the Pharaoh's servant. But he has so many it means I get plenty of spare time." She smiled, and Nila smiled back, glad to have found someone friendly.

"Well, Priest Mahado said that we could have a break, and I decided to have a walk and…well…" Nila trailed off, embarrassed.

"You ended up lost, right?" Nerifa finished, smirking slightly. Nila scowled at Nerifa's smirk, but nodded her head reluctantly.

"Nerifa!" a new voice echoed through the corridor, this time it was distinctly male. Nila also recognised it as the voice of the man who had insulted her. "Nerifa, I thought that I told you I wanted to speak with you?" the man continued. He was very tall, and wore a blue and white robe with a long cape. He carried the millennium Rod in his hand.

"Sorry, I'd better go," Nerifa smiled at Nila.

"Don't worry; it was nice to meet you!" Nila smiled back, and watched as the two of them left. Until she realised her mistake.

"Wait, I still don't know where I am!" she yelled in exasperation.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The nurse pressed an ice pack to the bruise forming on the girl's cheek, and she let out a sharp hiss. After her little dispute in the hallway with Mizuko, she was left with a loosened tooth, a pain in her cheek that was becoming a purple-black mark and a sore butt from her impact with the floor of the corridor.

Kaiba rubbed her shoulder and pulled the ice pack away slightly as the nurse disappeared through the door to get a spare for her, sighing at the dark patch forming on her face. "So what went on between you and the new girl then?" he gave her a questioning look.

Mattie turned her face to look at him, her hair stuck her forehead, and before she could speak, her rival's hand brushed the stray strands away, and then was gone as quickly as it came. At the touch the words fell out of her head and a weird sensation bubbled in her stomach before disappearing again.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow and waved a hand, "Hello? What went on in the hall?"

"Oh," Mattie finally woke out of her trance, "Well...Mizuko and I...we've know each other a long time. It sounds silly now, but we've never gotten along, even as children," she hissed again as the ice on her cheek was replaced, "I was once the new girl, and we were told to work together...we were 6 years old at the time, and I was dared to chew bubblegum and stick it into her hair. I know it was childish but it was my first day and I wanted to fit in with people."

The tall teen listened, surprised at the girl's little revelation, "You did it?"

"Yes. I'm not proud of it now, but she did something just as bad to me," Mattie exclaimed, wincing as another shot of pain went through her face, "When she'd had her hair sorted out by the teacher...somehow she got hold of something from the teacher's bag."

Kaiba's eyes narrowed and one eyebrow shot into his brown bangs. "...go on."

"We used to have a snack in the afternoon. And everyone would have either a carton of juice, or a carton of milk, and a sandwich with it. And somehow..." Mattie glared at her hand, "I should probably tell you our teacher suffered from...problems passing waste...so she took herbal drops for it."

At this, Kaiba looked at her with wide eyes and shook his head, his mouth falling open. "She...put laxative drops in your drink?"

"And my sandwich," She blushed and turned her gaze to the mirror, checking her cheek to see the true damage of her old enemy's right hook, "You can guess the embarrassment I suffered."

Kaiba shook his head again. "And this carried on..."

"The entire time we were in school together, we were trying to find ways to irritate the other. And I've never forgiven her for the laxatives." She turned to Kaiba again, and for some reason the temptation to use the name Seto towards him was strong.

The student CEO looked at his friend with a look of confusion. "That's a little hypocritical, Cassidy. I mean you did start this entire thing."

"I know, but I never...I was young, and everyone makes mistakes when they're young. I know better now."

"Then why are you still teasing Mizuko?"

Mattie opened her mouth to retaliate, but found she couldn't. She didn't have a reason. Kaiba smirked. "I think maybe it's time to slowly try and be friends with her."

The girl smirked, even though it made her cheek ache, and straightened her hair. "Then you stop being an asshole to the 'Geek Squad', as you so eloquently call them."

Kaiba's eyes widened, along with Mattie's smirk, and he left the room, only to turn and stop to lean against an empty wall. Was it just him who'd seen the eye on his forehead that night? Or had it affected Yugi, Jou and the others?

He wasn't worried.

Was he?

Inside the room, Mattie pushed her finger inside her mouth to check her now wobbly tooth. She'd always had a couple that had grown unevenly, and Mizuko's punch to her cheek seemed to have loosened one of the crooked ones.

Her thoughts went back to her friend and sports rival, and Mizuko's little comment as he'd dragged her from their hallway conflict. Her boyfriend? She tightly gripped the small sink in front of the mirror and scowled, that bubbling feeling rising in her stomach again. Mizuko had no idea what she was on about.

Even though she was still seething at her old enemy, Mattie's conscience told her Kaiba was right. But Mizuko was going to have to apologize for nearly knocking out one of her teeth before she would try and start afresh.

"Ryuuji? Ryuuji!"

Otogi was snapped out of his dazed state by a hand being waved about in front of his face. "Oh, sorry Shizuka. I was just…thinking…" he trailed off, looking glum.

Shizuka smiled "I could see that. Are you feeling ok? Is this about what happened yesterday?" her smile dropped slightly. "Maybe you should talk to Yugi and the others about this. They understand more about this sort of thing…"

"No, I can't Shizuka! An Egyptian Eye appearing on your head is not something you go around talking about! Not that's they'd believe me anyway." His head flopped onto the counter. Shizuka placed a reassuring hand on his arm.

"But I was there, and the others know that I wouldn't lie!" she said brightly. Otogi peered at her from under his hair, grinning humorously. "You? Not lie? Then I assume your brother knows all about us meeting up every weekend then?" Shizuka eyes widened as she playfully hit him on the arm.

"That's different! Big brother would murder you if he found out! And I'm not into necrophilia," she sniffed. Otogi laughed and shook his head.

"Necrophilia…where did you even learn that word?"

Shizuka giggled.

"What you don't know won't hurt you Ryuuji." The two of them laughed again, all thoughts of the Egyptian eye disappearing as their hands lay clasped together on the counter.

"Sister, should I move these boxes over into the other room?" Malik called out, heaving the heavy boxes up into his arms. Ishizu nodded absently, fingers trailing along her throat, even though it had been months since the necklace had lain there.

Malik sighed before carry the boxes into the next room. He wished with all his heart that he and his family were returning to Domino for a different reason. Not because of the darkness that had seized their minds just a few nights ago, giving them that urgent message, 'return to Domino, you are needed'. Ishizu had been the most effected by it. Malik supposed in was because she had once held the necklace, maybe some left over power from it still remained in his sister?

But Ishizu had denied this. All she had said was that she had been having strange dreams where she was running and running after something, the order of returning to Domino echoed around her mind.

"Malik, what are you doing with those boxes?" came a sudden screech from said sister. Malik almost jumped into the air, and almost dropped the boxes in the process. Ishizu rushed forward to grab the boxes out of his hands.

"Never-EVER-touch something this expensive and fragile again Malik Ishtar, or so help me…" Ishizu's threat went unfinished, but her eyes promised pain and suffering should he ever go against her order. Malik held up his hands in a surrender sign and chuckled nervously.

"Whatever you say sister…" he hurried off into the next room, almost crashing into Rishid in the process. The eldest Ishtar gave Malik one of his rare smiles and pushed him towards the door.

"Ishizu won't notice if you're gone for a little while. Take a walk, and I'll try and make sure we're finished with all the fragile objects by the time you're back." Malik smiled gratefully at his adopted brother before hurtling towards the door. He needed some fresh air. Maybe this walk would be good to help him clear his head.

Mizuko's head gave a painful crack as it thudded against the alleyway wall. Her body felt like it had been pummelled all over, which wouldn't be too far from the truth. 'Trust me to run into a gang on my first day in this stupid city…' she thought, scowling as she heaved herself from the wall to throw a punch at another of the gang members.

She had held up pretty well, although her uniform had certainly taken a lot of damage, and she was certain to have more than a few bruises. The gang member blocked the punch, and Mizuko yelled out as another rammed into her from behind. She landed on the ground with a thud, her vision going blurry.

"Hey-HEY!" she suddenly heard a voice yell, and the heard the sound of fist connecting with flesh.

"Crap, let's go!" she heard the gang leader say, and they all ran.

"Hey, are you ok?" the voice of the guy who-she supposed-had helped her asked, and Mizuko saw a tanned hand just in front of her face. Blatantly ignoring it, she scrabbled to her feet, first taking a look at her own battered state 'oh God, Dad's going to kill me for ruining this on my first day' and then glaring up at her rescuer as if it was all his fault. He was handsome; she couldn't deny that, with tanned skin and platinum blonde hair and purple eyes. He had an assortment of gold jewellery on, and strange markings were around his eyes.

'Huh. Weird…'

"Are you ok?" the stranger asked again, glancing over her body, an almost surprised look on his face as he took in the uniform. "It looked like those guys got you pretty badly."

"I was fine! I could have taken them easily," Mizuko snapped back, feeling more and more irritated by the second. Who the hell was this guy with his girly hair and makeup trying to act like some saviour? Bastard. "I didn't need your help, and if you don't mind, I need to get home now." Mizuko attempted to barge past him but he grabbed her arm.

"Wow, slow down! You should at least say thank you. And please, you were on the floor with three guys crowded over you. I doubt you could have handled them." Malik was irritated. This girl was infuriating! Honestly, he couldn't win. Trying to take over the world, nope. Simply try to help out a girl in trouble on the street? Also a no. Mizuko snatched her arm out of his grasp, and with a final withering glare, turned and walked off into the coming night. Malik stared after her, a frown on his face.

Rain suddenly started to plop down around him and Malik sighed. Oh great. His pocket vibrated and he pulled out his phone, snapping it open. "Rishid? Yeah, I can come back now. I've finished my walk…" and with that, he made his own way back home.

~*Ancient Egypt*~

Nila was humming to herself as she hurried along the street, carrying a basket of items Mahado required. Mahado had originally been looking for Mana to carry out the task, but she had run off again and so Nila had volunteered to buy the items instead.

She sighed happily. Learning how to be a magician was even better than she had thought! She had even almost been able to see a spirit-her Ka-today! She still had a long way to go, and even just trying to summon was exhausting, but it made her happy.

The sun was already quite low in the sky, so Nila quickly decided that it would be better to take a short cut down some back alleys to the palace. She quickly regretted this decision however, as the sun sank even lower, and the alleyway was quickly submerged into shadows. Nila shivered, wishing she had brought a cloak.

Suddenly a figure shot out from the shadows, and Nila screamed as she was sent tumbling to the ground, a searing pain spreading where the thief's knife had caught her.

"Oi, look here fellas! Looks like we got ourselves a rich one," the first thief chuckled, bending down over Nila to touch the gold arm and wristbands she wore, his eyes glittering greedily. Nila scowled slightly, waving her hand across and summoning just enough magic to shove him away from her.

She struggled to stand, and frantically searched inside her mind for the spirit she had glimpsed earlier that day during her magic lesson. Searching for the Ka that might be her only chance. Something did appear, a watery image of a slight girl with long hair like Nila's, but it was quickly destroyed as another of the thieves slashed through it. Nila screamed in pain as the Ka faded, collapsing back to the ground again as the thieves surrounded her.

Nila was close to passing out, but she forced herself to stay awake as she felt rough hands grabbing at her headdress and golden arm and wristbands. She had almost no energy left-attempting to summon her Ka only to have it destroyed a second later had knocked everything out of her.

Suddenly, there was a blinding light as one of the thieves was quite literally blasted away from her. Nila's eyes widened even further as she made out the shape of a small ka in purple armour. _Master Mahado's ka…_

Her shock at him saving her outweighed the fact she'd lost her possessions, and she looked up, her eyes remaining wide and staring as he bent down to see that she was unharmed.

Mahado, with his Ka not far behind them, lifted her into his arms as if she were a bride, carrying her towards the palace, a look of worry on his face for his charge and student. He could feel her muscles were a little limp from the exertion of magic she'd given, and that she would need some rest, but he couldn't truly gauge and treat her possible injuries without the proper equipment.

He shook his head slightly. He could tell this girl was going to give him a little trouble, but in a way he liked that his student would be a challenge. It would certainly keep his mind away from other people, or rather, a person...a girl...

Nila's cheeks heated up as she took in the feel of him holding her. His arms were so comfortable, and she could easily get used to lying in them. From her position she could see his handsome profile with perfectly defined contours, and it was all she could do not to lean forward and envelope her saviour in a grateful and heartfelt kiss.

Mahado looked at her and when he noticed she was looking at him, he gave her a friendly smile which was tinted with worry. "Ah, so you're awake. How are you feeling?"

At the rich voice she could have melted into a puddle of water, "I'm alright, I think..." she looked back at Illusion Magus behind them, who had a strange expression on his face as if he wanted to speak, but couldn't. She turned back to look at the object of her infatuation and wondered if it was the right time to voice her feelings, "Master Mahado?"

"Yes?" his expression was one of sheer obliviousness, and it took away that sudden confidence to tell him of her feelings, so she shook her head a little, more to herself than to him.

"Never mind."

He didn't look back down, but still spoke, "If it's about your bands and your headdress, another set can be made. You are more valuable than the objects that were taken from you. The items I asked you to get can also be replaced. What's important right now is you."

She felt her heart speed up, and begged to the Gods that it didn't burst from her chest in her joy. Nila hoped that meant her feelings were noticed and reciprocated, or at least he was trying to show her some affection. "I tried to summon my Ka to get them to back off, but...it didn't work..."

"Don't worry," Mahado encouraged, "You have a long way to go before you'll be 100 per cent successful, but you're doing very well. It took me a long time to be able to summon mine and sustain him, and if I'm not feeling at my best it can still be a struggle," he smiled again, and Nila could feel her heart speed up all over again, "You'll get it, even if it takes a while."

When they reached the palace, Mahado set her down on the ground in the healing chambers, and made sure she was alright. But it the middle of him checking her over for injury, Mana appeared from behind the door with a smile on her face, with her usual light-hearted air about her, seemingly delighted. "Nila, I heard that you were attacked, and I was so scared you were hurt but you're alright!" the girl bounded forward, almost ready to throw Nila into a hug when Mahado stopped the young magician in her tracks.

"Easy Mana, I'm not finished checking her over yet, she still could have injuries," he told her, and a momentary sulky face came from the blonde girl before she stood still, "Thank you. I know you're eager to see her but wait a moment."

In her occupation of daydreaming about how wonderful Mahado seemed to be, Nila failed to notice that Mahado's eyes had softened in the young magician girl's direction, the gentle hold on her shoulders keeping her in place, the lightness of his voice towards his student, or that a slight smile had upturned his lips at Mana's presence...

Maybe it was just him who could see it, but there was something certainly strange about his servant whenever Seth was near. For one thing, if the three of them were together, Atem, Nerifa and Seth, it was a guarantee that Atem would end up getting ignored.

He had noticed this pattern quickly; he was not in the position of one accustomed to being ignored. Atem didn't even think they did it on purpose. He was just somehow…left behind.

Atem was currently on his way to Seth's chamber, Nerifa following behind at a respectable pace. That was about all the respect he got from her. They had known each other too long for Nerifa to take any notice of other formalities.

"Hey Atem, what game do you think Seth will have this time?" Nerifa asked, an excited look on her face. Atem smiled, shrugging his shoulders. "Who knows what game he's got. You know he enjoys trying to surprise us!" he laughed. Suddenly a sly look crept across his face. "You always get so excited when we go to play games with Seth…you must really love your games, huh Nerifa?"

Nerifa snorted. "Hardly. There are so many complicated rules I can barely keep up, and I never win anyway so…" she trailed off suddenly, her face suddenly blazing bright red. She'd fallen for it.

Mentally laughing his head off, Atem put on a confused look. "You _don't _like the games? But you always seem so excited when we play them with Seth! Oh well, I'll just have to tell him you don't really feel up to playing with us anymore…"

"Don't you dare Atem!" Nerifa growled, pounding her fists against Atem's back. Atem was laughing out loud now as he caught her fists with ease. "No, no, no Nerifa, I insist. We've been awful to impose upon you for this long, you simply mustn't burden yourself anymore…"

"OI! You two!" a new voice came from just down the corridor. Nerifa and Atem froze in the antics to see Seth standing there with an irritated look on his face. "You're late. Now hurry up, we need to get the game started!" with that he stomped back into his chambers.

Atem turned to hurry on into the chambers, glancing back over his shoulder quickly to see Nerifa still just standing there, a mortified look on her face. "Nerifa, no use worrying about it now," Atem called. She snapped out of her trance, and threw the Pharaoh and agitated look before following him into Seth's chambers.

Let the games begin.

Ok, so we wrote this story ages ago, and it didn't really work out in the end. But I figured it would be a waste after all the writing we did do for it, so I'm going to post the rest of the chapters anyway. But this story is, and will remain, incomplete once all the chapters we've written have been posted.

Sorry to anyone who was enjoying this and wanted to see it finished~


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Yugi's hand passed over the page he was reading. Biology coursework, great. A deep blush inset itself into his face as he was forced to read on the reproductive cycle, reproduction and pregnancy. Was the aim of this course to embarrass the crap out of him? Because it was working!

He heard a chuckle in his head, and Yami's voice echoed through their mind link, "Aibou, they just want you to know the details before you go off making babies."

The red on his cheeks deepened and through his mind he sent an image of him holding up the middle finger, to which there was another chuckle before Yami retreated, leaving Yugi with a smile on his lips.

Another pain shot through his forehead and he gripped the pencil in his hand so hard it snapped in two and splintered on the desk. It was momentary, but he didn't seem to be the only one affected. Ryou, a few seats away, had furrowed his eyebrows in pain before they relaxed again, then turned to his work again.

Joey watched as the teacher left the room for the moment then turned, "Yug', are you alright?"

He looked up and blinked, then gave a smile, "Yeah, just a headache."

Anzu, a few seats away, looked like she was about to be sick. She had flinched at the same instant that Yugi's head had become painful, and she now had a hand pressed over her mouth. Her skin was pale, and without even saying anything to the teacher, she jumped up from her seat and dashed from the room.

Yugi watched her go with concern.

'What do you think that was about Mou hitori no boku?' he asked Yami, who appeared beside him in a translucent form.

"I don't know Aibou. We should ask her when she gets back."

Mizuko was watching the door where Anzu had just run through with a thoughtful look on her face. Glancing to the desk next to her, where Anzu sat, she noticed something black and gooey on the desk. Wrinkling her nose, Mizuko turned back to her work and thought no more of it.

At the other side of the room, Mattie finished her last sentence, then set her pen down in favour of staring out the window, watching the traffic on the road in the lunchtime gridlock. But her mind wasn't on the cars hooting. It had wandered from the now finished classwork to Kaiba again, that tightness rising in her stomach again.

What was wrong with her? She wasn't sick was she?

Kaiba finished his last paragraph with a flourish of his pen and set it down, putting his work on top of Mattie's for the teacher to collect on her way around the room. But instead of putting the pen away, he scrawled a message on a piece of paper and passed it to her.

She unfolded the paper and looked at the neat words. Is your cheek still hurting?

On the back of the message she scribbled a reply. A little but that's to be expected.

After reading the reply, he delved into his pocket with one hand and grabbed her own with the other, her eyes widening. Then he took out a blister pack of pills and pressed two painkillers into her open palm, and offered his bottle of water.

She smiled at the gesture and accepted the pills and the water, and momentarily slipped into her second language to thank him. "Danke schön."

"You're welcome," he whispered back, then went on to read the next section they'd be working on.

Hunched over the toilet in front of her, Anzu heaved and struggled to breathe properly. The bowl in front of her was filling with a strange black, tar-like substance that was scaring her, and had she been able to stop being sick, she would have gone to the medical room.

She shivered, absolutely terrified. What was making her sick, and what in the name of hell would make her throw up black gunk?

When she was finally able to stand without feeling nauseous, Anzu lifted herself to her feet and stood in front of the mirror, looking at her features. Her face was pale, with almost a green tinge to her complexion. Her eyes pauses at her reflection's eyes, and she froze in the motion of removing some mint gum from her pocket.

In the mirror, where her eyes were normally a warm blue, almost a mix of turquoise and azure, they were now almost ice blue, and had a violent, almost murderous appearance that hadn't been there before. And as she noticed this, waves of dark thoughts entered her head, and she yelped as she fell to her knees.

Yugi's always in the way...he's the one who stands between me and my love. He's nothing but a pathetic little child.

No...she didn't think of Yugi like that! Yugi was her best friend, her buddy, the one she could go to with her problems and he'd always be there!

All he ever does is force Yami back, trying to keep him for himself...

She shook her head and covered her ears, trying to block out the thoughts, tears running in rivers down her cheeks as she heard the words echo in her head...

Anzu stumbled a little as she walked out of school. Another girl had found her throwing up in the bathroom, and she had been sent home by the school nurse. Anzu clutched tightly onto her bag, trying not to think about anything other than putting one foot in front of the other. It worked until she was about halfway home when she was suddenly hit by another wave of nausea.

She collapsed to the pavement with a groan, breathing heavily as she wrapped her arms around herself, almost a form of comfort as she let out a sob. The street was practically deserted. No one who would care about her….

She gasped again as the nausea increased, a few tears slipping out of her eyes.

"Hey, are you alright?" she suddenly heard, and found herself being supported by a pair of tan arms. She looked up weakly, and her eyes shot wide open as she took in the features of the person above her, someone she never thought she'd see again.

'D-Dark Magician Girl?' she thought, and was about to say when a third wave came and Anzu sagged in the girl's arms. The girl looked exactly like Dark Magician Girl! Except for the fact she had a rich Egyptian tan and markings around her eyes just like Malik's.

"W-woah, you look really sick! I'm going to take you to my place, ok? You need to get sorted out," the girl said, a worried expression on her face as she hefted Anzu up into a piggyback. "Don't worry, I'm actually staying with my cousins at the moment, and Ishizu is usually at the museum. And that's not too far from here!" The tanned Dark Magician Girl look-a-like said cheerfully, and Anzu started at the sound of Ishizu's name.

"I-Ishizu?" she mumbled. The Ishtar's were back in Domino? What for? And in that case, just who was this girl?

As if she could sense the questions going through Anzu's mind, the girl smiled again and laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry! Here I am, carrying you off, and you have no idea who I am! Not that I know who you are either…" they both sweat dropped at that. "My name's Mana Ishtar. Nice to meet you!" the newly introduced Mana smiled over her shoulder.

"I-I'm Anzu…Anzu Mazaki" Anzu managed to croak out, even managing a smile of her own. Mana beamed back.

"Well don't worry Anzu; I'm going to make sure you get home just fine, ok?" Anzu smiled gratefully, the nausea seeming to almost recede.

"Thank you…" she murmured softly, before dozing off on the girl's back.

Ishizu was all for unpacking the next box, desperate for this moving in lark to be over so she could rest her feet, when strange noises started coming from the hallway leading up to the room.

"Alright...I gotcha-WHOAH!" the noise was followed by a loud crash that echoes through the hall, and she recognised the voice of the girl.

She stepped up to the door and let it swing open, to find Mana flat on the floor and a brunette girl lying half on her back, whiter than a sheet and looking extremely tired. "Mana, what's going on?"

The tan blonde looked up and gave a little wave to her relative, "Hey Ishizu...um, do you know this girl, by any chance? She pretty much collapsed."

The girl in question moved a little and Ishizu raised her eyebrows at the sight of her bright blue eyes. "Anzu?"

Quietly Anzu sipped from her glass of water and watched as Mana helped to shift some of the boxes aside so they could get to the chair that had been buried under all the stuff. When there was enough room to sit, both Ishtars sat down on the seats. Rishid had entered the scene at some point, sorting out the drinks and quickly finding a place for Anzu to sit, whilst the two female Ishtars foraged for themselves. Anzu had felt embarrassed with the oldest Ishtar fussing over her like that. But she had appreciated the kindness and concern he had given her. It made her feel safe.

"Are you feeling better now?" Mana perked up, tilting her head very slightly in sympathetic question.

Anzu nodded, but in actuality she wasn't actually sure. Throwing up black gunk had been one thing, but thinking about hurting Yugi? That wasn't like her...alright, so she OCCASIONALLY thought about smacking Jou in the face, but he had been asking for it...asking her bra size...then when she'd shouted at him asked if she was PMSing...while the thoughts whizzed through her head she faintly picked up on Mana and Ishizu's conversation amidst the white noise of her mind.

"I keep getting this really dark feeling. Are you getting it as well, Ishizu?" Mana's tone was one of curiosity and mild worry, "It's like a weight, but it keeps getting heavier the more I fight it."

"Mana, this was the entire reason we moved into Domino, and why I brought you along in the first place. I've been sensing the presence of an evil entity," the young woman replied. Her eyes were surrounded by a slightly dark circle, telling anyone she hadn't been sleeping right for a few days at very least, "Something keeps following me within my dreams...and it involves everyone including you, even if I'm not sure how yet."

Mana nodded, smiling slightly, even if there wasn't much feeling behind it. "I was surprised when you called me. Ishizu, sister to the head of the Tombkeeper Clan, with connections in both the Egyptian and Japanese Governments wanted me to come with her family back to Domino. It was just completely out of the blue! But somehow…when I saw this girl…it felt right that I had come here."

With a thoughtful look on her face Mana turned to look at Anzu, who had seemingly slipped into a daydream, her eyes unfocused and soft but at the same time intense. And for some reason that dark feeling nagged at her once again, like she was missing something and what was actually causing the feeling was teasing her, and with it came more of an understanding of why she was here in Domino, even if the details weren't clear yet.

She shook the feeling off. "Anzu?" at the call of her name, the brunette slipped from her daydream and looked up, "You alright now?"

Anzu gave a shaky smile. "I think so...I don't know why I'm feeling so ill. Maybe I'm coming down with a virus or something."

Ishizu smiled sympathetically. "I think the best thing is for you to go home and rest. Try and sleep a little and maybe you'll feel better." Even as she spoke the words to the girl, who nodded a little and thanked them both before walking slowly from the room, something nagged in her mind that something wasn't...quite...right. She looked over at Mana. "Mana, please keep an eye on her. I may not have the necklace anymore, but I can feel something dark coming from her. We can't leave it unchecked." Mana nodded, before running after Anzu to see her off. Ishizu sighed.

This was going to get complicated, she could just tell. And it was now, one of the rare, rare moments when she wished she still carried the burden of the Millennium Necklace on her shoulders.

Anzu unlocked the front door and walked in. She felt a little better; maybe it had been the walk home, but she was still curious as to why the Ishtars were back in town. Something must have been going on to make them move ALL the way back from Egypt.

She smiled slightly as she read her mail, checking one letter about her dance exam thoroughly and grinned at her A- grade. Last time she'd gotten a B, so it was an improvement.

With a sigh she looked to her side where her bag was hanging from her shoulder. "I suppose I'd better get on with my work then..." she mumbled to herself, traversing up the stairs and up to her bedroom, not noticing as she walked past the reflective glass covering the photographs on the wall that her own reflection appeared to be glaring at her...

Her fingers clicked at her keyboard, typing in her password and logging into her computer before picking up her pencil and scribbling down on a post-it to remember to buy milk after she was done, and stuck the sticky paper to on corner of her screen so she didn't forget about it.

Anzu dragged several books from her bag and lay them out open at the pages she needed, and picked up her pen, flicking it between her fingers deftly before touching the tip to the page of her notebook and starting her biology coursework.

Or she would have...if her fingers would move.

She looked down at her hand and tried to let go of the pen, but her fingers wouldn't move.

Now she was getting freaked out again. She shook her arm, trying to make her finger unleash the death grip on her pen when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror and gasped again.

Her eyes were the same cold blue as they had been in the school bathrooms, and a glare was on her reflections features.

Anzu didn't know what to do, and didn't even think as she opened her mouth to scream. Hoping it would catch someone's attention, only when she tried to let out her shriek of horror, nothing came from her throat. She was completely mute.

As quickly as her voice had left her, she coughed and choked, feeling as if she would be sick again, so she let her feet carry her with speed to the bathroom, tripping on some stuff in the hallway as she hurried to reach it before she threw up on the hallway landing.

As soon as she was in the room, she grasped at the toilet bowl and retched, more of the black stuff pouring from her mouth, her body convulsing in her attempt to purge whatever substance that was making her ill from her system. But even as she was sick again, the voice in her head...the same one from the school bathroom...started shouting things at her inside the cage of her mind.

Pathetic...you can't even handle the truth, you poor little bitch. You're cowardly. He's under your nose but you still let the little son of a bitch keep him from you.

When she finally stopped feeling sick and sat back, Anzu tore at her hair in frustration.

Just tell him a lie...you're good at lying...you do it every day when you deny your feelings for him...when you say your 'fine' with the little twerp keeping him away from you. Just one little lie and he'll be yours!

Trails of tears trickled down her face once more, and Anzu felt herself going limp. She didn't have the strength to fight the words anymore...no more...

With a dull thud, her body slumped to the bathroom floor in a heap with a final murmur... "No..."

~*Ancient Egypt*~

"I hope Nila's feeling better soon…her encounter with those thieves seems to have really shaken her up," Mana said sadly, as she walked through the market place with Heba. Heba was a fellow magic student of hers, a cheerful boy who looked remarkably like the Pharaoh. He was a much better student than her however, already able to summon his own Ka, even if it wasn't very strong yet.

It seemed to grow every time he faced a new enemy, but just when they thought he was improving, his Ka would return to its smaller form as soon as all enemies had been defeated. Heba himself was the only one unbothered by this.

"Well I think being attacked by thieves like that would be enough to scare anyone," he said, glancing around the marketplace in case he saw anything they needed. "Speaking of attacked by thieves.." he muttered, and suddenly dashed off. Mana ran after him, confused. She had no idea what he'd seen, until she noticed the two girls collapsed on the ground, one of them holding her body protectively over the other.

"Are you ok?" Mana gasped as she and Heba reached the two girls, who turned their heads over to them. They were twins, Mana realised, the only noticeable difference being their eyes. The twin lying on the ground had warm blue eyes, but the other girl hovering above her had icy blue eyes, which were narrowed in suspicion at Heba and Mana.

They quickly melted into concern as the other girl moaned slightly, her face contorted in pain. She rested her hand against the girl's cheek in concern. Mana turned to Heba, who crossed his arms across his chest, eyes closed as a bluish light surrounded him, and a mage dressed in white and blue appeared in front of him.

Heba remained silent for a few more minutes, before opening his eyes and nodding once to his Ka, who immediately flew off in the direction of the palace.

"Silent Magician will get help," He told them, before also kneeling down beside the girls. The icy-blue eyed one growled slightly, and a faint shape appeared shimmering behind her. Mana's eyes widened. 'A ka?' she wondered in amazement. She blinked, and the shape was gone. Had she imagined it?

Brushing that concern from her mind, Mana knelt down beside Heba to offer her own hand out to the girls. "Don't worry, we don't want to hurt you," she said slowly "My name is Mana, and this is Heba. We're training to be magician's in the Pharaoh's court."

"I'm Anuksu," The icy girl finally muttered in reply, her eyes still full of suspicion. She turned her gaze to her twin. "And this is Teana, my younger twin." Teana's eyes flickered open again, and she caught sight of Mana, her face breaking into a weak smile.

"You…have amazing hair…" she murmured reaching out her fingers to Mana's blonde hair. "So do you!" she laughed slightly, having caught sight of Heba. She struggled to sit up slightly, which immediately prompted Anuksu to start fluttering around her, trying to make her lie back down, pressing a hand to Teana's forehead to feel its temperature.

Heba looked up at the sound of people coming towards them, and smiled at the sight of Atem, Mahado, Nerifa and several slaves, four of them carrying a litter. The Silent Magician was leading them.

Atem broke into a run when he spotted the four of them, coming to crouch beside them. Heba dismissed his Ka, satisfied that they had arrived. "Are you all alright?" Atem asked, glancing around at each of them in turn. His gaze fell on the twins and he smiled. "You must be the girls who were attacked by the thieves. Heba sent a message with his Ka." He flashed a smile at Heba here; whose cheeks turned a few shades darker. Mana raised her eyebrow at the two of them.

Looking over at Teana and Anuksu, her eyes almost bugged out of her head as she saw them gazing at Atem with much the same looks of sudden admiration in their eyes, their own cheeks darkening. 'This looks like it could be getting interesting…' Mana mused, a wicked smile just curving the corners of her lips. By this time the other slaves had arrived, and the twins were swiftly lifted onto the litter, and the whole little procession made its way back to the palace.

Mana had noticed the prince-_pharaoh_-and Heba move towards each other, their hair almost merging together as they chatted quietly to each other. It looked like she'd have to find some other way to entertain herself. She skipped up beside the litter, pulling one of the curtains slightly out of the way so she could look in. Anuksu had Teana resting on her lap, her fingers brushing Teana's hair from her forehead again. She quickly stopped when she noticed Mana, glaring slightly.

Mana just smiled cheerfully, "Don't worry about Teana. She'll be fine once we reach the palace, the healers will take care of her!" This seemed to relax Anuksu slightly.

"And what do you do in the palace?" she asked, and Mana laughed.

"I'm supposed to be training to be a magician in the pharaoh's court…but I'm not very good yet. I can't even see or summon my Ka yet…" Mana told her. "Ahh…but it looked like you already have a Ka," Mana continued "That shape that appeared behind you before. Can you make it any clearer?" Anuksu looked at her blankly.

"A…Ka? I don't know what that is. What is it for?" Anuksu asked, curious now as to what Mana meant.

"Well, it's not exactly for anything…you can use them to battle, and they each have a special power. No two Ka are the same because they grow differently depending on the person's heart." Mana explained slowly, wishing now that she had paid more attention to her lessons. "You can use it to defend yourself and others too."

"Protect?" Anuksu said, once again tightening her grip on Teana. "Could I use it to protect my sister?" Mana nodded slowly.

"Yes, I think so. If it was powerful enough," Mana said. Anuksu's eyes narrowed.

"Power...huh…" She muttered, and something in her voice made Mana shiver. Anuksu turned so that her body was angled away from Mana, who took that as her cue to leave. 'Well…' she thought, 'it looks like things are going to get interesting around here.'


End file.
